Syria weighs joining Mecca defence pact as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia continue

Damascus weighs entry into the pact

Syria is considering joining the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, its foreign minister said on Saturday, 31 October 2026, at the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain. Asaad al-Shaibani told the conference that talks were under way to assess Syria's membership in what he called the Mecca alliance. The pact was signed in August by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, and it treats an armed attack on any one of the three as an attack on all. Syria's entry would bring another government into an arrangement that already sits alongside a widening war in Yemen. It was unclear from his remarks whether any Syrian support would extend to sending troops to Yemen.

“Discussions are currently under way to evaluate Syria's entry into the Mecca alliance.”

What the pact commits its members to

The agreement mirrors NATO's collective-defence principle. The three members agreed in October 2026 to prepare for the rapid deployment of military forces to Saudi Arabia as Houthi attacks on the kingdom intensified. Turkish officials said any future military support for Riyadh would not include deploying Turkish troops to fight in Yemen or to attack the Houthis. Neither Pakistan nor Turkey has so far announced any attacks on the Houthis. Turkey's ratification process for the pact is still ongoing.

The Houthi campaign against Saudi Arabia

The Iran-backed Houthis have struck targets in Saudi Arabia almost daily for weeks. An attack on Riyadh's international airport on 10 October killed 13 people and wounded more than 300 others. Tehran denies any role in the Houthi attacks, while Riyadh accuses Iran of fuelling the escalation. Allies are hesitating and oil executives are avoiding the kingdom, which makes the Houthi threat the biggest test yet for Mohammed bin Salman. In early October, French President Emmanuel Macron made an unexpected visit to Riyadh and announced that France had sent forces to help protect one of its key oil terminals from Houthi attacks. The UK government said in October that it would send British fighter jets to the region to help Saudi Arabia counter the strikes.

Damascus's position and reservations

Since Ahmed al-Sharaa came to power after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, his government has tried to stay out of regional conflicts while rebuilding the country after nearly 14 years of civil war. Syrian authorities denied reports in October that Saudi Arabia had asked for Syrian troops to be deployed, saying Damascus was focused on reconstruction. Shaibani said Syria regards the defence of the Gulf Arab states as essential to its own security. He added that the Gulf states faced challenges from militias that cross borders.

“Syria will stand beside all of the Gulf countries.”

Israel and Syrian sovereignty

Separately, Shaibani told the conference that Israel had carried out more than 1,000 attacks on Syria in less than two years, killing dozens of people. He used the attacks to question calls for border control and for weapons to be placed solely under state control. Syria, he said, backs the efforts of Yemen's Saudi-backed internationally recognised government to restore sovereignty across its territory. He also urged all parties to respect the unity and sovereignty of states.

“How can calls for border control and placing weapons exclusively under state control be justified while Syrian sovereignty is violated and targeted on a daily basis?”